Friday, August 3, 2012

What is the True Unemployment Number?


What is the definition of "U-6 Unemployment Rate"?

The unemployment number that is most often used in the media (and by the government) is known as the "U-3". This number was 8.1% in February of 2009.

The "U-6" is considered to be a broader measure of the unemployment situation in the United States.

The "U-6" includes two groups of people that the "U-3" does not:

1.      "Marginally attached workers" - people who are not actively looking for work, but who have indicated that they want a job and have looked for work (without success) sometime in the past 12 months. This class also includes "discouraged workers" who have completely given up on finding a job because they feel that they just won't find one.

2.      People who are looking for full-time work but have to settle on a part-time job due to economic reasons. This means that they want full-time work, but can't find it.

Two pretty important groups of people, no?

The "official" unemployment number is the "U-3" - this is 8.3% as of July 2012.

The "U-6" is a whopping 15.0% as of July 2012.

Here is the U-6 Unemployment Figures Charted from 2001.


Here are the individual Month-by-Month U-6 Unemployment Figures – 2000 to Present.


Here is the U-1 through U-6 figures of unemployment by individual state Q-3 2001 through Q-2 2012.

 
For all the trillions in bailouts, stimulus and spending we have not produced new jobs – and never will. My next post will tackle the historically recorded facts that show the clear difference between Government Stimulus vs. Free Enterprise that actually generates a robust economic growth and real jobs that come from a pro-business government policy.

Still want to vote for Obama? I pray not.

Sources
 

United State Bureau of Labor Statistics

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